


Trinkets

by NotThatIWillEverWriteIt



Category: 19天 - Old先 | 19 Days - Old Xian
Genre: Angst, Chapter 200, Chapter 282, Earrings, How Do I Even Tag This?!, Kinda..., M/M, Missing Scene, Piercings, eh...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 13:15:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotThatIWillEverWriteIt/pseuds/NotThatIWillEverWriteIt
Summary: You see, She Li was one of those people you needed to tread carefully. He made a terrible friend but a much worse enemy.Or my take on how Mo Guan Shan got his first earrings.





	Trinkets

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 282 gave me such MGS feels that I felt inspired to write something for a change. I'm dying to know how it all went down between MGS and She Li.
> 
> Related chapter(s): [200](http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/19_days/bt/1c7703d522dd7bac/Ch200/pg-1/) | [282](http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/19_days/bt/mpn_chapter-1962469/pg-1/)
> 
> **Read and review <(_ _)>**

The late night had cooled down his sweaty shirt, and it clung to Mo Guan Shan’s skin grossly when he pulled it over his head and tossed on top of the laundry basket in the corner. So much for the shower he had taken earlier. The bastard He Tian had riled him up to play for real and run around the court like an idiot late into the night. 

The apartment had been quiet and dimly lit only by the soft light in the entrance when he had come back inside. As quietly as he could, Mo Guan Shan had toed off his shoes and tiptoed out of his sweaty clothes in the bathroom. Mom’s alarm would go off early in the morning, and it was his turn to make breakfast. 

A soft clang rang in the silence when he turned the pockets of his sweatpants inside out. For a while, he stared blindly at the tiles until he spotted the earring He Tian had forced on him. Compared to the vast greyness of the tiles, the jewelry looked much smaller next to the laundry basket on the floor than it had in He Tian’s hand. A mere black speck.

A hazy flash of He Tian grabbing the back of his neck and pushing him down – the rush of suddenly being made to submit – tightened the bottom of his stomach. With an annoyed frown, he snatched the piece of jewelry off the floor and glared at it as if blaming it for its very existence. 

“Stupid piece of trinket,” he muttered and looked for a trashcan – or _anywhere_ – to chuck it in.

But something made his hand waver. A persistent, lingering something that had been eating into him despite everything. The longer he kept glaring at the earring – a lifeless, harmless object – the more it itched him with nervous energy. 

_I should just toss it_ , he thought, but quickly the thought slithered and faded away before he could grasp it. 

With a pounding heart and clumsy fingers, he loosened the tiny back of the earring and threaded the post through the hole on his earlobe. It slipped in without resistance. The lock pinched the soft flesh a little when he snapped it close. 

His reflection on the bathroom mirror didn’t seem much different. His earlobe was a bit reddish but that was all. The jewelry weighted heavy and unfamiliar, but it didn’t show in the mirror. 

It certainly didn’t look anything like a couple of years ago when he had gotten his first pair of earrings.

**~~oOo~~**

Mo Guan Shan hadn’t been quick enough to come up with an excuse when She Li had told him to come over after school. It wouldn’t have needed to be anything special – homework, detention, mom had asked him to run some errand – but his mind had gone completely blank. Silence had been enough of an answer for She Li, though. Not that he had been really expecting – or _needing_ – one, either.

You see, She Li was one of those people you needed to tread carefully. He made a terrible friend but a much worse enemy. 

“I’ve got something to show you,” he had said, carefully leaning closer as if sharing a secret. “I almost got caught getting it but you’re gonna like it, I promise.”

Mo Guan Shan had seriously doubted that but resigned himself to only nod quietly. Maybe he could come up with a believable curfew excuse. 

She Li’s house was as big and empty as always. A strange combination of comfortable luxury and almost sterile-like cleanliness and order. Their steps and voices echoed in the spacious entryway. 

“Welcome home,” a young, petite maid greeted them with a small bow. 

She was dressed in a smart but modest grey dress and had her light brown hair in a neat, soft bun against her slim neck. She always reminded Mo Guan Shan of a scared little mouse constantly sniffing the air with a twitching nose. 

“You brought a friend over? Would you like something to eat or drink?”

“We’re going to my room,” She Li dismissed her simply. “Don’t bother us.”

She Li kicked off his shoes that she hurried to put away in the expensive looking shoe rack made of dark wood that matched the front door. Awkwardly, Mo Guan Shan handed her his shoes, too, before slinking off after She Li to the upstairs. 

Unsurprisingly, She Li’s room matched the price level of the rest of the house, but it wasn’t as crammed with expensive electronics, gadgets, and _stuff_ as one might have expected. Actually, there wasn’t much anything apart from the soft, dipping bed, desk and a chair in front of the window, and two big closets, one of which Mo Guan Shan had learned was always locked. The only evidence that a teenage boy was living in the room were a couple of posters on the wall and some clothes scattered here and there.

With the kind of hurried excitement that tightened the bottom of Mo Guan Shan’s stomach, She Li closed the door and clicked the lock. 

“What did you wanna show me?” he said with a frown and stood stiffly in the middle of the room. “I can’t stay long, mom said I gotta clean the house before she comes home.”

That sounded like an excuse even to his own ears. 

Without paying him any attention She Li rummaged through the top desk drawer and dug out a small, plastic box which he showed to Mo Guan Shan almost proudly. Inside rattled a pair of black stud earrings. 

Mo Guan Shan’s frown deepened, and he glanced at She Li warily. 

“Earrings?”

“Remember when we saw them at that one shop, and you said they looked cool? I got them for you.”

He remembered. They had been killing time at a shopping center near the station one afternoon about a week ago, and She Li had spotted a new store. It had been She Li who had thought the earrings looked cool, and Mo Guan Shan had merely agreed with him as always.

Mo Guan Shan had a sinking feeling about where the situation was heading, and he was getting desperate for an out.

“Why don’t you keep them? They’d look cooler on you.”

“I know, but dad would never let me have them. He said only fags have earrings. Besides, you need them more. I know those guys would stop messing with you if they saw you had piercings.” 

“Weren’t they expensive, though?”

She Li snorted at him. “Idiot, they’re plastic crap. You think I’d pay for them?”

“You – you nicked them?”

“ _So_?” 

A familiar, audible edge had crept into She Li’s voice. 

“Nothing. They look cool, thanks.” Mo Guan Shan reached for the box, but She Li snatched it away. 

“Let’s put them on you then.”

“I should really get going…” 

“It won’t take long.”

When Mo Guan Shan still hesitated, She Li narrowed his eyes and his voice grew colder.

“What, you don’t want them?”

“No, it’s just – I don’t really like needles.” 

She Li chuckled and rolled his eyes at him. And just like that, the tension that had been filling up the room eased up a little. Mo Guan Shan let out a silent sigh of relief, he had been dangerously close to the invisible line he dared not to cross. 

“Stop being such a pussy. It’s just a little hole, you’ll barely feel it,” he said and turned to dig into the drawer again. This time he took out a silver lighter, a sewing needle, and small, double-sided hand mirror. 

Mo Guan Shan took a quick look at the tools, and bile rose up to the back of his throat.

“Come on, She Li, I don’t really – “ 

“Take a seat there, and gimme a minute to clean the needle.”

Mo Guan Shan’s legs had suddenly gone wobbly, and he slumped on the bed. With growing panic, he watched as She Li carefully held the needle over the little flame of the lighter. Before long, the tip started to glow red, and She Li let the fire die with a soft click.

“Remember, you gotta be quiet. I don’t want her to come knocking in the middle of it.”

“I don’t think we should – “ 

“Actually,” She Li looked around the room and picked up one of the shirts on the floor and handed it to Mo Guan Shan, “here. Put this in your mouth.”

Numbly, Mo Guan Shan took the shirt but just held it. All coherent thoughts had fled his mind.

“I don’t wanna do this,” his voice had become high and thin. Pathetic. 

“What, you gonna _cry_?” She Li mocked him and roughly shoved the piece of clothing closer to Mo Guan Shan’s mouth. “Just bite down on it.”

The fabric made him gag. Like cotton, it immediately sucked all moistness out of his mouth, and the cloth glued grossly to his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Mo Guan Shan breathed harshly through his nose as he tried to fight against nausea turning his stomach. 

She Li’s cold hand took a firm hold on his left ear, and the pain forced Mo Guan Shan’s head to follow the movements. The hot needle was suddenly in front of his eyes, and on instinct, he flinched back. She Li glared at him. There was a strange, glimmering stare in his pale eyes. 

“Stay still if you don’t want me to take your eye out.”

In a few agonizing seconds, the needle pierced the soft flesh of his earlobe like a hot knife cutting into cold butter. The pain brought tears to his eyes, and he squeezed the edges of the mattress with all his might. He tried to swallow the cries for as long as he could but lost the battle almost immediately, and they were muffled by the clothing. Little black dots appeared dancing in front of him, and his head felt like it was floating.

“Hey,” She Li snapped his fingers in front his nose, “you better not pass out on me.”

Pain pulled Mo Guan Shan back from the edge of unconsciousness when She Li nimbly put the stud through the fresh hole, pressed the lock close, and wiped the little drop of blood that had surfaced. 

Gagging and gasping for air Mo Guan Shan pushed the shirt out of his mouth with a grimace. The inside of his mouth was coated with tiny fluff from the fabric. Embarrassed, he hurried to wipe the couple of tears that had trickled down his cheeks. 

“Look,” She Li said and handed him the small hand mirror. 

His reflection had a pale-grey face and red-rimmed eyes. The left earlobe looked irritated and glowed red. Gingerly he brushed the sore lobe. The worst pain had faded into dull, hot throbbing that quickly spread. The cheap plastic ball of the earring looked strange. Foreign and invasive.

“I told ya, it’d look good on you. Now, let’s do the other one.”

**~~oOo~~**

The jewelry didn’t look bad. He Tian had a decent taste even if Mo Guan Shan would rather die than admit it out loud. The metal rim caught some of the fluorescent light of the bathroom lamp and sparkled in the reflection. He wondered if the pair was worth any money.

She Li had been right about the piercings buying him more intimidation and credibility on the streets. Some of the low levels had left him alone, but at the same time, he had had an uneasy sense of powerlessness. He had been forced to give up the last frontier of autonomy he had had – the right to his body. 

He didn’t know why He Tian had given him the earrings – much less why he needed to wear them next Saturday – but it made him feel cheap. A pet with a shiny collar looked back at him in the mirror. 

Yet he seemed unable to throw them away. 

“Worthless trinket,” he muttered again, but this time with a softness he didn’t recognize. 

Carefully he took the earring off and put them on the edge of the sink before turning off the lights and going to bed. Maybe – with some fate on his side – he will accidentally lose them into the depths of the drain.

**The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Behind the keyboard: [Tumblr](https://notthatiwilleverwriteit.tumblr.com/) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/venni.talvi.31) | Instagram: @notthatiwilleverwriteit


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